US and Israeli attack on Iran: At least 153 girls killed in strike on school

At least 153 people, almost all of them young girls, have been killed in an air strike on a primary school in southern Iran, according to the city’s governor.

The attack on Saturday morning hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school in the city of Minab, in Hormozgan province, as the United States and Israel began launching strikes on targets across Iran.

The victims were between seven and 12 years old, according to Iran's Tasnim and Fars news agencies.

A staff member at the Minab school, who asked not to be named, told Middle East Eye she remains in shock at the intensity of the attack.

Through tears, she said she used to watch the young girls playing at school every day. After today’s strikes, however, she saw their bodies lying on classroom benches and in different corners of the school.

She said she had just stepped out of the school when she suddenly heard a horrifying sound. Within seconds, a missile hit the school building.

After hearing the blast, she ran back towards the school and was faced with a scene she says she could never forget. 

“I felt like I had gone mute. I couldn’t speak,” the staff member told MEE. “You could hear the sound of children crying and screaming.”

When rescue teams arrived, she said, they began to understand the scale of the disaster.

The air strike on the school left many inside the building trapped beneath the rubble.

“We still don’t know how many are under the rubble. Some of these small children are severely wounded. Their parents have come to the school, and this place has turned into a house of mourning.”

There were 170 female students at the school at the time of the attack.

Footage posted by Telegram accounts affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appeared to show people digging through the rubble.

Smoke could be seen rising from surrounding buildings, while a wrecked car lay in the street. People were heard screaming and wailing; others appeared to be in shock.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denounced the attack on X and said the deaths of the children would "not go unanswered".

"The destroyed building is a primary school for girls in the south of Iran. It was bombed in broad daylight, when packed with young pupils," he wrote.

"Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone."

Since Saturday, US and Israeli strikes on Iran have  heavily targeted Tehran. Explosions echoed first echoed across the capital as Iranians set out for work on the first day of the week, before quickly spreading to the rest of country.

At least 201 people have been killed in Iran and 747 wounded, the Iranian Red Crescent said.

Attacks were also reported in a range of cities across 24 provinces, including the holy city of Qom, as well as Karaj, Isfahan and Kermanshah.